I bought my first radio scanner, a Uniden BC70-XLT, in the late 1980s. The desire for more capacity led to the
purchase of a Radio shack Pro-39 in the mid 1990s.

My scanner sat unused for many years after I got married as there was no way to rig an external antenn to the house.
And the traditional rubber ducky antenna doesn't offer great reception.

Fortunately, though I bought a house near a hospital. This provides quite a bit of radio traffic that can be picked
up with a rubber ducky antenna. The design of my house makes installing a rooftop antenna difficult.

Besides inbound ambulances briefing the ER, a local company uses the hospital roof for a paging system and the local
amateur radio club has a repeater up on the roof. Plus there is the occasional radio traffic when the medical
chopper Aeromed is in the area.